у, ў, на, з, да, ад, каля, праз and the cases they govern, plus the spelling rule that turns у into ў after a vowel and the да that replaces Russian к.
I can say where something is, where I am going and who I am going with, choosing the right preposition and case.
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
Я жыву ў Мінску, а працую ў Гродне.
I live in Minsk and work in Hrodna.
Заўтра еду ў Брэст на цягніку.
Tomorrow I am going to Brest by train.
Іду да сябра піць гарбату.
I am going to a friend's place for tea.
Мы сустрэліся каля Чырвонага касцёла.
We met by the Red Church.
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
A Belarusian preposition always governs a case, and the same preposition with two different cases means two different things. Learn the pair, not the word.
| Preposition | Case | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| у / ў | locative | in (position) | у Мінску — in Minsk |
| у / ў | accusative | into (direction) | у Мінск — to Minsk |
| на | locative | on, at | на стале — on the table |
| на | accusative | onto, to | на працу — to work |
| з | genitive | from, out of | з Гродна — from Hrodna |
| з | instrumental | with | з сябрам — with a friend |
| да | genitive | to, up to, as far as | да сябра — to a friend's |
| ад | genitive | away from | ад дома — from home |
| каля | genitive | near, beside | каля возера — by the lake |
| праз | accusative | through, across, in (time) | праз лес — through the forest |
| пад / над | instrumental | under / above | над ракой — above the river |
| для | genitive | for | для цябе — for you |
The preposition is written ў when the word before it ends in a vowel, and у otherwise:
This is one of the tidiest rules in the language and one of the first things a reader notices when it is missing.
English prepositions govern nothing; the noun after them never changes. In Belarusian the preposition is only half the construction and the case ending is the other half, so у Мінск and у Мінску are two different statements. Learn each preposition with a whole phrase.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenTypical errors: treating the preposition as the whole construction and leaving the noun in the dictionary form, as English allows. In Belarusian the case ending carries half the meaning: у Мінск and у Мінску are different sentences.
Error with Прыназоўнікі
Review Прыназоўнікі.
Я жыву ў Мінску, а працую ў Гродне.
I live in Minsk and work in Hrodna.
Location, so the locative twice. Both prepositions follow a vowel, hence <strong>ў</strong> both times.
Заўтра еду ў Брэст на цягніку.
Tomorrow I am going to Brest by train.
Direction takes the accusative: <em>у Брэст</em>, not <em>у Брэсце</em>. Brest keeps the fortress that held out in June 1941.
Іду да сябра піць гарбату.
I am going to a friend's place for tea.
<strong>Да</strong> plus the genitive where English uses <em>to</em>. And <em>гарбата</em> is the Belarusian word for tea, unrelated to the Russian one.
Мы сустрэліся каля Чырвонага касцёла.
We met by the Red Church.
<em>Каля</em> plus the genitive. The Red Church stands on Independence Square in Minsk and is the city's most photographed building.
Яна размаўляе па-беларуску з бацькамі.
She speaks Belarusian with her parents.
<em>З</em> plus the instrumental for company, and the language adverb is hyphenated: <strong>па-беларуску</strong>.
Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an